The Third Avatar: Del
by Avield
Summary: This is the tale of the third Avatar, Del, and like Aang, what he did to change the world forever…


Water... Earth... Fire... Air.  
Long ago, their lived a single nation bound together in harmony and peace.  
Then everything changed during The Purging.  
Emerging from the darkness was the Avatar, the creator and teacher of the four bending elements.  
But when The Purging was over, he vanished.  
Split in ideals, but united in cause, the single nation divided into four, each reflecting a single element of their choice.  
And while the nations believed the Avatar to be no more, his teaching continued to shape the world and its history.  
But while many thought the story of the Avatar had ended, it really, had only just begun.

This is the tale of the third Avatar, Del, and like Aang, what he did to change the world forever…

The world searched high and low for the new avatar, but could not have guessed that he would born in the merchant city of Koh, located in the middle of the Si Wong Desert. Born to a wealthy merchant family, Del's father had made lots of money as the sole owner of large trading business before settling nearby a large oasis. Building the original settlement from scratch, what once was a simple village, grew into a large city named Koh. As the founder, Del's father became a highly influential leader, gifted with servants and a large glowing palace. To say Del was born with a silver spoon in his mouth was an understatement.

Unlike Shiya, who discovered her abilities half way through life, Del was born knowing he had the ability to bend all the elements. Almost immediately, Del was swarmed with shamans, travelers, and representatives from all the nations.

Disliking the overwhelming attention, Del found solace in books. Constantly reading, Del mastered all the elements with ease at the age of 6.

One day, while Del was reading about Go in his father's palace, a strange owl flew in through the window and landed on his head. Fearful of the strange creature, Del try to shew the owl away, but no matter how hard he would try, the owl would follow him. Eventually he gave up and embraced the owl as his personal pet, giving him the name Tzang.

Following his love for knowledge, Del decided to create a massive building from which he store his massive collection of books, scrolls and other trinkets. Calling the place a library, he was collected thousands of works in his travels. But books weren't the only thing he found he loved.  
On his travels, Del found a beautiful girl named Sailu (which means white lotus) who had the same love of knowledge as he did. Deeply in love, the two married and lived happily in the library.

For ten years Del lived with his wife in peace, until one night when Del awoke to a scream. Standing in front of his bed was a dark figure, holding his wife hostage with a knife to her throat. Angry, Del demanded what the meaning of this was. The stranger told Del that he was hired to kidnap his wife and unless he followed his master's orders to the word, he would kill her. All Del had to do to in order free his wife, was kill the Head Monk of the air nomads. Once complete, they would meet him on the northern outskirts of town, alone. Only with proof with of Head Monk's death, would they let her go.

Confused by this, Del asked why, but the stranger was gone, along with his wife. Unsure about whether or not to carry out the stranger's orders, Del sat in his library for a long time, stroking Tzang while thinking of a plan. Stumped, Del decided to carry the strangers orders, that is, until Tzang dropped a book onto his lap. Containing within it was a recipe for a potion which would allow a person to fake their death. It would keep their heart, breath, and soul in a suspended state for 3 sun rises.

Del was overjoyed and he immediately set out for the Southern Air Temple, with the potion in his possession. Understanding the situation, the head monk took the potion and allowed Del to take his hand. Thankful for the head monk's sacrifice, Del traveled back to Koh as fast as possible, anxious to get his wife back.

Just as the stranger had said, Del found a camp site on the outskirts of town. Calmly with the monk's hand in his bag and Tzang on his shoulder, he walked into the camp site. Surrounded almost immediately by strangers in air nomad clothing, Del stood motionless as he surveyed the camp. Forced to walk towards the middle of the site, Del found himself in front of a large Go board, all set up and ready to go.

Forced to sit down, Del was greeted by a strange monk with no eyebrows on the opposite end of the board. Demanding his wife back, the monk assured him he would explain everything, but only if he won two games of Go out of three against him, to prove he was the Avatar, since Del had become infamous for his unique Go strategies.

Del agreed and to his surprise found himself easily beaten on the first game. Praying for guidance, Del suddenly heard a voice in his head. The voice told him not to be alarmed as he would help him beat the no eye-brow monk. Sick of questions without answers, Del demanded who the voice was. To his surprise, the voice admitted to be the owl on his shoulder, a spirit named Wan Shi Tong. Interested in his love for knowledge, Wan Shi Tong wanted to help satisfy Del's thirst for knowledge. With his help, Del could easily beat these rogue monks, get his wife back, and continue his journey. Amazed by this, Del agreed to accept Wan Shi Tong's help and together easily defeated the no eye-brow monk.

Demanding an explanation, the monk explained to Del how they felt the avatar's power was being wasted on peaceful endeavors. With his power, they could easily shape the world in the image. However, they could never control him without some of kind of leverage. Patiently they waited, until they found someone worth blackmailing him with… his wife.

The monk then asked for proof, without hesitation, Del showed the monk the head monk's hand. Satisfied, the monk told Del that they would keep his wife, until he completed all of their tasks. Angry, Del demanded they release his wife and air bended the tents into the air.

To his horror, Del revealed his wife… dead… on top of the tents blankets.

Devoured with rage, Del's eyes and body started to glow as he steadily rose into the air. Fearful for their lives, the monks ran in all different directions. Feeling no mercy, Del transformed the once calm desert into a huge ocean of land, with enormous sand twisters and waves of the sand the size of 50 foot tidal waves. The monks could only watch in horror as they quickly drowned in the sand hurricane.

Fearing what Del would do to him, Wan Shi Tong transformed into his spiritual form and tried all he could to stop Del. With one mighty dive, Wan Shi Tong finally knocked Del out of the air and with quick peck, knocked him unconscious.

The next day, Del was astounded to find his once small owl, now almost as large as an elephant shark he had once seen. Looking around, Del found his library and father's city submerged in sand. Fearing for the worst, Del ran to the submerged city cursing what he had done. Crying while pounding on the sand, Wan Shi Tong told Del that his city was safe, as they had all hidden in the library, which Wan Shi Tong had protected with his own spiritual powers.

Using his bending, along with the help of Wan Shi Tong, Del bended the sand away from the city and found everyone safe, just as Wan Shi Tong had said.

Wan Shi Tong explained to Del that the state he entered was a defense mechanism, which allows the Avatar to channel immense cosmic energies of the grand spirit and the of all previous avatars. Awakened through danger and great emotional turmoil, the state has both its advantages and disadvantages.

After the incident, Del continued the rest of his life as avatar, but made a promise to the world that he would make amends for the atrocity he committed. To ensure the world's safety, along with the Avatar's safety, Del secretly founded OWL or The Order of the White Lotus in honor of his wife and Wan Shi Tong's sacrifice. Made of the world's most powerful and wise individuals, the order would ensure the worlds safety if ever the Avatar could not.

Along with the assistance of Wan Shi Tong, Del lived most of his life in his library, eventually transferring ownership to the spirit as thanks for saving his life.

Old and fragile, Del passed on and the avatar was reincarnated into the next nation of the cycle; the Fire Nation.

Thus, Yuriko became the fourth avatar and the first avatar belonging to the Fire Nation.


End file.
